§3.6#16 τὰς δ᾿ αὐτὰς αἰτίας ὑποληπτέον καὶ περὶ παρηλίων καὶ ῥάβδων ταῖς εἰρημέναις.
We must assume the same causes for mock suns and rods as those already mentioned.
γίγνεται γὰρ παρήλιος μὲν ἀνακλωμένης τῆς ὄψεως πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον, ῥάβδοι δὲ διὰ τὸ προσπίπτειν τοιαύτην οὖσαν τὴν ὄψιν, οἵαν εἴπομεν ἀεὶ γίγνεσθαι ὅταν πλησίον ὄντων τοῦ ἡλίου νεφῶν ἀπό τινος ἀνακλασθῇ τῶν ὑγρῶν πρὸς τὸ νέφος·
For a mock sun arises when the sight is reflected to the sun, while rods arise because the sight falls on them in such a state as we said always occurs when, clouds being near the sun, it is reflected from some of the moist things to the cloud.
φαίνεται γὰρ αὐτὰ μὲν ἀχρωμάτιστα τὰ νέφη κατ᾿ εὐθυωρίαν εἰσβλέπουσιν, ἐν δὲ τῷ ὕδατι ῥάβδων μεστὸν τὸ νέφος· πλὴν τότε μὲν ἐν τῷ ὕδατι δοκεῖ τὸ χρῶμα τοῦ νέφους εἶναι, ἐν δὲ ταῖς ῥάβδοις ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῦ τοῦ νέφους.
For the clouds themselves appear colorless to those who look directly at them, but in the water the cloud appears full of rods; except that in the former case the color of the cloud seems to be in the water, but in the case of rods, it appears on the cloud itself.
γίγνεται δὲ τοῦτο ὅταν ἀνώμαλος ἡ τοῦ νέφους ᾖ σύστασις, καὶ τῇ μὲν πυκνότερον τῇ δὲ μανόν, καὶ τῇ μὲν ὑδατωδέστερον τῇ δ᾿ ἧττον·
And this occurs when the constitution of the cloud is uneven, being in one part denser and in another rarer, and in one part more watery and in another less.
ἀνακλασθείσης γὰρ τῆς ὄψεως πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον, τὸ σχῆμα μὲν οὐχ ὁρᾶται, τὸ δὲ χρῶμα· διὰ δὲ τὸ ἐν ἀνωμάλῳ φαίνεσθαι λαμπρὸν καὶ λευκὸν τὸν ἥλιον, πρὸς ὃν ἀνεκλάσθη ἡ ὄψις, τὸ μὲν φοινικοῦν φαίνεται, τὸ δὲ πράσινον ξανθόν.
For when the sight is reflected to the sun, its shape is not seen, but its color; and because the sun, to which the sight was reflected, appears bright and white in what is uneven, one part appears crimson, and another green and yellow.
διαφέρει γὰρ οὐδὲν διὰ τοιούτων ὁρᾶν ἢ ἀπὸ τοιούτων ἀνακλωμένην· ἀμφοτέρως γὰρ φαίνεται τὴν χρόαν ὅμοιον, ὥστ· εἰ κἀκείνως φοινικοῦν, καὶ οὕτως.
For it makes no difference whether one sees through such media or by reflection from them; for in both ways it appears similar in color, so that if it is crimson in the former case, it is so in the latter as well.
αἱ μὲν οὖν ῥάβδοι γίγνονται δι᾿ ἀνωμαλίαν τοῦ ἐνόπτρου οὐ τῷ σχήματι ἀλλὰ τῷ χρώματι· ὁ δὲ παρήλιος, ὅταν ὅτι μάλιστα ὁμαλὸς ᾖ ὁ ἀὴρ καὶ πυκνὸς ὁμοίως· διὸ φαίνεται λευκός.
The rods, then, arise owing to the unevenness of the mirror, not in its shape but in its color; but the mock sun arises when the air is as even as possible and similarly dense; wherefore it appears white.
ἡ μὲν γὰρ ὁμαλότης τοῦ ἐνόπτρου ποιεῖ χρόαν μίαν τῆς ἐμφάσεως· ἡ δ᾿ ἀνάκλασις ἀθρόας τῆς ὄψεως, διὰ τὸ ἅμα προσπίπτειν πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον ἀπὸ πυκνῆς οὔσης τῆς ἀχλύος, καὶ οὔπω μὲν οὔσης ὕδωρ ἐγγὺς δ᾿ ὕδατος, τὸ ὑπάρχον τῷ ἡλίῳ ἐμφαίνεσθαι χρῶμα ποιεῖ, ὥσπερ ἀπὸ χαλκοῦ λείου κλωμένην διὰ τὴν πυκνότητα.
For the evenness of the mirror produces a single color in the reflection; while the reflection of the sight in a body, because of its falling upon the sun all at once from a dense mist which is not yet water but near to water, causes the actual color of the sun to be reflected, just as if it were reflected from smooth bronze owing to its density.
ὥστ᾿ ἐπεὶ τὸ χρῶμα τοῦ ἡλίου λευκόν, καὶ ὁ παρήλιος φαίνεται λευκός.
So that since the color of the sun is white, the mock sun also appears white.
διὰ δὲ τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο μᾶλλον ὕδατος σημεῖον ὁ παρήλιος τῶν ῥάβδων· μᾶλλον γὰρ συμβαίνει τὸν ἀέρα εὐεργῶς ἔχειν πρὸς γένεσιν ὕδατος.
And for this very reason the mock sun is a sign of rain more than the rods; for it is more the case that the air is in a state favorable for the generation of water.
ὁ δὲ νότιος τοῦ βορείου μᾶλλον, ὅτι μᾶλλον ὁ νότιος ἀὴρ εἰς ὕδωρ μεταβάλλει τοῦ πρὸς ἄρκτον.
And the southern mock sun is more so than the northern, because the southern air changes into water more than that towards the north.
γίγνονται δ᾿, ὥσπερ εἴπομεν, περί τε δυσμὰς καὶ περὶ τὰς ἀνατολάς, καὶ οὔτε ἄνωθεν οὔτε κάτωθεν, ἀλλ᾿ ἐκ τῶν πλαγίων καὶ ῥάβδοι καὶ παρήλιοι· καὶ οὔτ᾿ ἐγγὺς τοῦ ἡλίου λίαν οὔτε πόρρω παντελῶς· ἐγγὺς μὲν γὰρ οὖσαν ὁ ἥλιος διαλύει τὴν σύστασιν, πόρρω δ᾿ οὔσης ἡ ὄψις οὐκ ἀνακλασθήσεται· ἀπὸ γὰρ μικροῦ ἐνόπτρου πόρρω ἀποτεινομένη ἀσθενὴς γίγνεται· διὸ καὶ αἱ ἅλως οὐ γίγνονται ἐξ ἐναντίας τοῦ ἡλίου.
And both rods and mock suns arise, as we said, about sunset and sunrise, and neither from above nor from below, but from the sides; and neither too near the sun nor entirely far away; for if it is near, the sun dissolves the constitution, but if it is far, the sight will not be reflected; for when stretched far from a small mirror, it becomes weak; wherefore halos also do not arise opposite the sun.